The Real Documents Men
“The art historian John Davis Skilton was stationed in Worzburg from June until October 1945 as an American Second Lieutenant and Officer of the Monuments and Fine Arts Section. In an exemplary manner, he organised initial rescue and restructuring measures for the cultural heritage of the destroyed city.
Most of the roofs of the Residenz, as well as the wooden ceilings and floors, had been destroyed by fire, and the surviving stone vaults by Balthasar Neumann were exposed to the elements.
Under the command of Captain Thomas Giuli, supported by Corporal Denis P. Myers as well as the architect Professor Albert Bosslet, the art historian Dr. Rudolf Kuhn and other German helpers, Skilton achieved what was practically impossible in those days: he found lumber, tar paper and cement to build makeshift roofs over the most important vaults. In this way he saved Tiepolo's frescos in the Staircase and in the Imperial Hall of the Residenz, which today is a UNESCO World Heritage site, from certain destruction through damp.”
“Immediately after the war's end in 1945, as the actress Ingrid Bergman made a guest appearance for American soldiers in front of the bombed out backdrop of the Residenz, as the surviving citizens of Wurzburg had begun rebuilding their destroyed city, and as the winter intruded with bitter cold and heavy rains, neither the hardened Main-frankers nor the occupation forces were particularly interested in preserving those art treasure that had withstood undamaged the calamatous March 16th 'Night of Bombs'. Had fate not then sent the American art officer John D. Skilton in the direction of Wurzburg, this metropolis on the Main probably couldn't boast the world over of the inestimably valuable art works housed within its walls today. The city is indebted to this young lieutenant, both a fervent art expert and admirer of Balthasar Neumann, that the most precious art treasures in the Residenz have to this day remained intact.”
“The precious wall decoration of the Mirror Cabinet with the reverse glass painting created in 1740-1745 was almost completely destroyed in 1945. Only the furniture, the chandeliers and two door wings had been stored beforehand in a safe place. Since the glass plates had been plastered directly onto the wall, the first one had broken when an attempt was made to remove it. The reconstruction was based primarily on this original fragment, an extremely detailed painting of the room by Georg Dehn and numerous colour slides taken in 1944 by Carl Lamb.
From 1979-1987 it was thus possible to recreate the entire interior, imitating the old techniques. The stuccowork alone took 27,000 hours to complete, while the gilders spent 30,000 hours applying 2.5 kilos of gold leaf. The artist Wolfgang Lenz reconstructed the complex reverse glass painting.”
“The Green Lacquered Room completed from 1769 to 1772 takes its name from the transparent green lacquer applied as a glaze to a silver ground to create a particularly luminous effect. Here too in 1945 the ceiling collapsed, the floor was burned and the walls damaged and blackened.
The restoration work in 1968-1974, which took around 32,000 hours, included the application of 120 m2 of silver leaf and 275 m2 of gold leaf. The ornamental and
figure painting was reconstructed by the artist Wolfgang Lenz based on historical photos and his own designs.”
